Novelty cap



July 3, 1962 A. K. FISH ET AI NOVELTY CAP Filed Feb. 8, 1961 INVENTORS alum K. FZSIL y Harry 2. Block E figs azz' I m m United States Patent 3,041,628 NOVELTY CAP Alvin K. Fish, Winnetka, and Harry R. Block, Highland Park, Ill., assignors to Slack Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Feb. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 87,923 Claims. (Cl. 2195) This invention relates to a novelty cap, initially formed as a punched and slit cardboard blank which may be bent and assembled into the form of a visored cap, and there maintained during a period of more or less transient use.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a cap generally characterized as aforesaid which may be produced at extremely low cost to encourage ready sale there of to a user and its free distribution by an advertiser or sponsor.

Another object is to provide a cap as aforesaid which, although initially a fiat blank may, when suitably bent, conform closely to the crown of the'wearers head.

A further object is to provide a cap in accordance with the foregoing which may be readily adapted to a wide range of head sizes from childrens to adults.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the ensuing description which, taken with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred mode of carrying the invention into practice.

In this drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the blank;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, as seen from above and the rear, showing the cap conformed for wear;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the assembled cap;

and

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view thereof.

Before proceeding to a statement of the overall concept it is pointed out that sellers of merchandise and services are eager to display their advertising on items which the prospective customer can utilize to practical advantage. For example, at public sporting events such as baseball games a cap in simulation of those worn by the players would be welcomed by the spectators, not only to shade the crown of the head and the eyes from the sun but to serve as a boosting medium for the team favored by the individual wearer by reason of printed matter which may be readily applied to the cap. To this end the invention is initially a punched and slit blank of cardboard lending itself to a straightforward printing-operation. In the case of a so-called give-away the; cap will bear the name, etc., of the advertiser or sponsor andany other desired subject matter, e.g. the name of one or the other of the competing teams, in an ink or inks of a color identified with the respective teams as utilized in their playing uniforms. Thus, caps in accordance with the principles of the invention represent an inexpensive, yet beneficial, form of advertising. If the caps are sold, as by a concessionaire, the price can be made sufficiently low as to encourage their mass purchase.

Broadly regarded the invention comprises the formation, as by punching and slitting raw cardboard stock, of a fiat blank ready for use without the need for adjuncts facilitating the deformation and/ or assembly of the blank into wearable form. The blank may, before or after punching, be imprinted or colored overall, as desired, depending upon the end sought to be served. he cap desirably includes a visor. At the rear the blank is provided with a pair of tabs including male and female elements whereby the tabs may be grasped, overlapped and engaged to provide a wearable article. Also desirably, the said elements may be in multiple and so spaced that the cap may be assembled into any of several sizes of what may be termed head band. Moreover these elements are preferably so disposed that permanent position- 3,041 ,628 Patented 1 July 3, 1962 ice ing of the interlocked joint is assured notwithstanding inherent or exteriorly-app'lied, circumferential and vertical forces tending to unlock the same. To enable ready and comfortable substantial fit of the cap on the crown of the head a central area of the blank is multiply slit in an anterior-posterior direction to define a plurality of individual bands which separate when the article is deformed sheet material of low cost havingthe combination of rigidity and deformability dictated by the end use. Desirably, at least one face thereof is finished in a manner to accept printed or other matter either directly or by affixation, e.g. advertising or sponsoring information.

The peripheral configuration of the blank conforms substantially to an ellipse over the major extent thereof,

or at least is so configured that the visor and head band are as usually formed in like shapes of caps constructed by conventional cutting and sewing. Forconvenience of exposition and claiming the general configuration of the blank may sometimes be referred to as comprising an elliptical segment substantially more than a semi-ellipse I cutout 16 defining a first tongue 17 and with a notch 18 regarded along the major axis AA thereof;

At what corresponds to the right hand terminus, or rear, of the blank (as seen in FIG. 1) the same is provided with a pair of tabs 10 and 11 disposed mutually oppositely and symmetrically with respect to the major axis AA of the blank.

The tab 10 is provided with a plurality of pairs of transverse, parallel slits 13 and a like plurality of longitudinal, aligned slits 14. The tab 10 is provided with a defining a second tongue 19. Accordingly if the two tabs are grasped and drawn into overlapping relation the tongue 17 may be passed through a selected pair of the' slits 13 to maintain overlapping relation of the tabs in a transverse sense whilethe tongue 19 is inserted in a companion one of the slits 14 to maintain circumferential- Selection of the proper relation of the tabs (FIG. 4). set of slits 13, and 14 will depend on the head size of the wearer. Such variationdesirably lies in a range of from 'size 6 to 7 /2. j 1 l Over a central zone of the bl-ank the same is provided with a plurality of parallel slits- 21 beginning inwardly" from the longer edges by an amount sufficient to define headband portions 2323 which are essentially continuations of the overlapped tabs [10 and 11. Preferably the common line of termination C of the rearward ends of the slits 21 is set forwardly sutficiently to avoid risk of tearing through to the rear margin 25 of the blank intermediate the tabs.10 and 11. At this juncture it will be observed that the margin 25 is desirably convex outwardly not only to increase the space between the margin and slits 21 but to present, when the cap is assembled, a somewhat esthetic and sportive appearance (FIG. 2). The forward common line of termination D of the slits 21 is arcuate convexly outwardly to define a line of weakness whereat the blank will, upon deformation, fold to define a visor 31 at an angle to the crown and arcuate laterally (FIG. 2) substantially as would be the case in a conventional cut and sewed visored cap. It will be noted that the width of the headband sections 2323 at the lines Er -E is made somewhat narrower than elsewhere in order that, when the blank is assembled, these headband sec tions will merge into the visor in smoothly-flowing, skew planes while permitting the visor to occupy its angular position with respect to the crown.

As the blank is. assembled as aforesaid the narrow bands 32 of cardboard defined by the slits 21 will separate (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) to conform severally to the general curvature induced in the blank by the assembly of the tabs and 11, and as controlled by the generally larger area of the blank forming the visor. The net result is the transmutation of the originally, flat juxtaposed strips 32 into a substantially dome-shaped crown 35 providing practically total coverage of the head of the wearer as clearly shown in FIGS. 2, 3 'and 4. In one form of cap according to the invention the bands 32 were in width. I g

An important advantag'e of the crown construction disclosed is that, while virtually total coverage of the head is achieved for protection against the suns rays there is ample venting from beneath the crown.

It will have become apparent that the invention lends itself also to minimum packing and shipping expense as compared to the packaging and shipment of caps as conventionally manufactured; moreover, that the tabsmay be disengaged and the article put away in flat form pending further use. To assure such more or less permanent character the blank may be punched from a flexible, plastic sheet materialr r While we have shown a-particular embodiment of our invention, it will be understood, of course, that we do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made and we, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as' fall within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim: a

1. Anovelty cap comprising a flat blank of thin, flexible material, said blank having a configuration which is substantially an elliptical segment greater than a semiellipse regarded along the major axis of the ellipse, the truncated end of the blank being provided with a pair of opposed tabs adjacent the periphery of the blank, said tabs respectively having male and female interlocking elements whereby, the blank, upon deformation of the tabs maybe brought into mutually overlapping relationand said elements interlocked to retain the tabs in said relation to form, with the outer side edge portions of the blankfa headband, the opposite end of the blank providinga continuously, upwardly convex visor transversely of the blank, the area of the blank intermediate said tabs and visor extending from the headband'forming portions 4 arches, to define a crown said tabs and the unslit truncated end portion of the blank merging together, said slits terminating along a common line adjacent said truncated end and along a common arcuate line at the visor end which is convex toward the outer margin of the visor to provide a line of weakness whereat the blank, upon assembly,'will fold to cause the visor to assume said convex upward configuration at an obtuse angle to the crown and the outermost ones of the slits defining the inner margin of the head-band at each side.

2. A cap in accordance with claim 1 wherein said fe- 7 male elements comprise a-pluralityof slits and said male element comprises a tongue adapted to be interlocked with a selected slit.

3. A cap in accordance with claim 2 further characterized by a plurality of aligned slits substantially at right angles to said first mentioned slits and a second tongue adapted to be interlocked with a selected one of said second mentioned slits.

4. A cap in accordance with claim 1 wherein the margin of the blank intermediates said tabs is arcuate con- V vexly outwardly to define, when said blankis formed up,

an outwardly protruding portion overhanging the wearers heada e 5. A novelty cap comprising a fiat blank of thin material capable of being punched and deformed for assembly into a shape-retaining wearable cap, said blank having a substantially ovate area truncated at the basal end and a' pair of laterally-,ppposite tabs extending outwardly from said end substantially parallel to theaxis of symmetry of the blank, said tabs being respectively provided with male and female elements adapted to bev interenof the 'blank being provided with a plurality of closelyspaced slits in the direction of said major axis and defining a plurality: of nari'ow bands whereby overlapping and skewing of the tabs at substantiallyQO" to their fiat positionseparate's and urges said bands into individual gaged when the tabs are brought together by deformation of the blank, said blank also being provided with a plurality of closely-spaced slits iextending substantially in the direction of said axis to define a plurality of narrow bands adapted, upon said deformation of the blank, to separate and transmute into skew curved planes disposed on a substantially semi-ellipsoidal common surface, to constitute a crown and a headband forming an essentially smooth continuation of said crown.

"References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

